How to Stay Productive During the Holidays

We at WiseStamp just survived Thanksgiving! It was equal parts delicious and stressful. It’s hard to manage personal time with unending work during the holiday season—and our users have expressed their concerns about how to stay productive. It takes commitment to stay focused, but you can do it. We combed through the best advice of leading productivity experts Casey Moore, Neen James, David Allen, and Jason Jennings to come up with actionable tips for powering through the holidays like a pro.  

Make a plan

The holidays can be your busiest period as you rush to meet end-of-year goals. Now it’s time to plan a schedule to complete them. List them in order of priority and get ahead of the curve. What slowed you down last year? What can you do differently?

Be realistic

It’s not easy to accomplish a normal workflow in significantly reduced time. Sure, you can burn the midnight oil, but that will make the quality of your work suffer and you suffer. Instead, be fair to yourself and your business by setting realistic goals. Things will naturally slow down a tad, and you are best off to accept it.

Don’t over-commit

Invites for holiday parties and celebrations are flying at you left and right. You don’t have the time to accept them all and manage your business goals at the same time. So, don’t fall into the trap of over-committing to events and festivities. Prioritize events in your personal and professional life that are the most meaningful to you.

Track your progress

You’ve planned a holiday schedule that will enable you to complete all your end-of-year goals. Amazing! But are you sticking to it? Measure your progress each day so you can prepare to adjust if things shuffle or you fall behind.

Take good care of yourself

Being overworked and over-stressed is a recipe for illness, especially in the winter when flu season is in full swing. You can’t afford to lose more time by getting sick, so be good to yourself. Slow down if necessary. Better to take things down a notch than end up sick in bed for days from overworking yourself.

Plan for the New Year

We know you’re concentrating on this year being over. But don’t lose sight of next year. Envision yourself starting fresh and put yourself in the mindset to achieve. That way, you’ll get excited to hit the ground running right after New Year’s Day.